War and other realities dominate Children's Book Council of Australia awards shortlists

The continuing rise in the quality and sales of children's books should quell fears about the future of the book, according to the judges of Book of the Year Awards for the Children's Book Council of Australia.

More than 400 books were entered for six awards.

One Minute's Silence, by Michael Camilleri and David Metzenthen, one of 19 picture books on war entered - and the one book shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year.

Information books in particular were very strong this year, said Angela Briant, the chairwoman of the national council (but not one of the eight judges), in announcing the shortlists for the 2015 awards on Tuesday.

She noted the rising number of entries and range of shortlisted books in that category, including the large-format, handsomely illustrated A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land by Simon Barnard.

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A-Z of Convicts in Van Diemen's Land, by Simon Barnard.

"I bought a copy and a number of people picked it up from my kitchen table, both adults and children," Briant said.

"Information books have really got the capacity to engage children. It's about story too, connecting readers with people of another time.

"Children can find facts and figures on the internet, though they might not always be accurate, so a book has to engage and provoke an emotional reaction."

Also on the information books shortlist was Audacity: Stories of Heroic Australians in Wartime by Carlie Walker and illustrator Brett Hatherly, which was published by the Department of Veterans' Affairs and was one of many entries on the theme of war across the categories.

Audacity: Stories of heroic Australians in Wartime, by Carlie Walker and Brett Hatherley.

In the picture book category, which includes books for small children and teenagers, there were 19 entries about war, especially the Gallipoli campaign, in the lead-up to the centenary.

But there are also plenty of books on other recurrent subjects in children's books: multiculturalism, families, pets and animals, humour, fantasy and the environment; and, in books for older readers, teenage sexuality, drugs and other confronting issues that they - and often their parents and other adults - want to read about from a young adult perspective.

Among the shortlisted authors and illustrators are veterans such as Libby Gleeson, Freya Blackwood and Stephen Michael King, who all appear several times, as well as a strong showing of new talent. Some of the finalists for the new illustrator award are also contenders for the main awards.

"It's a very healthy industry," said Briant, noting there were some high-quality self-published books on the extended list of Notable Books that will be released soon, along with the judges' reports.

The winners will be announced on August 21 at the beginning of Children's Book Week.

Susan Wyndham is The Sydney Morning Herald's literary editor. She has been a reporter, feature writer, Good Weekend editor and a Herald deputy editor. Her books include Life in His Hands: The True Story of a Neurosurgeon and a Pianist (2008) and My Mother, My Father: On Losing a Parent (2013).